About 73,584 Weld County residents use Medicaid, according to the most recent count by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing. That's about 24 percent of the county.

With President Donald Trump's budget plan calling for $800 billion in cuts to the federal Medicaid program over the next 10 years and reports that the American Health Care Act, if passed, could leave 23 million more people across the country uninsured, it's likely Weld residents will feel the changes.

Mitzi Moran, CEO of Sunrise Community Health, said the Medicaid expansion had a direct impact on the patients at Sunrise.

"Before the Medicaid expansion, about 50 percent of patients were uninsured," Moran said. "When Medicaid expanded, that dropped to about 25 percent."

“It is clear we have healthy, able-bodied men and women who can join the work force who are not in the work force, and we have got to cut benefits and incentivize employment in this country.”

— Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo,

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Sunrise was able to bill those patients and get paid. That allowed the community health center to expand. It added 130 jobs since 2010, expanded buildings and renovated programs. The money, she said, was reinvested back into northern Colorado.

Such drastic changes to Medicaid could mean reduced programs at Sunrise, she said, though she's looking for ways to make up losses.

The Congressional Budget Office released a report May 24 estimating the direct spending and revenue effects of the American Health Care Act, which passed the House but has yet to go to the Senate. The report estimates the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $119 billion over the coming decade.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., who voted for the bill, said it's important to reduce the country's deficit.

"It is clear we have healthy, able-bodied men and women who can join the workforce who are not in the workforce, and we have got to cut benefits and incentivize employment in this country," Buck said.

The Affordable Care Act allowed states to raise the qualifying income rules for Medicaid, which Colorado opted to do. It raised the income bar so a single person earning $16,000 per year or less or a family of four with an income of $32,700 per year or less could qualify for Medicaid.

In 2010, about 20 percent of Weld residents were uninsured. As of 2015, that number dropped to 8.5 percent.

Buck said that wasn't enough.

"We were promised full coverage by the Affordable Care Act and have about 26 million people uninsured now," Buck said. "We have people who can't afford the deductibles."

Moran recognized the ACA wasn't perfect, but now she worries about how the elderly, disabled and poor will have access to health care. She's hopeful, though, the Senate will ensure protections for the vulnerable.

"Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater," Moran said. "I'm hopeful those voices will be heard."